‘This Is a War Crime’: Photographer Explains Why She Took ‘Disrespectful’ Photo of Family Killed by Russians
A Pulitzer-winning photojournalist explained to CBS News why she took a photo of four civilians, including two small children, after they were killed by Russian forces on Sunday.
The New York Times printed a shocking front page image on Monday, which was taken by Lynsey Addario in the city of Irpin.
The image showed the four civilians immediately after they were killed by as they attempted to cross a bridge to enter Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv.
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES: Today I witnessed Russian troops deliberately targeting civilians fleeing for their lives from the village of Irpin. At least three members of a family of four were killed in front of me. @nytimes https://t.co/lR0a5FRpXX
— lynsey addario (@lynseyaddario) March 6, 2022
Writing for the Times, Andrew E. Kramer reported:
On Sunday, as Ukrainian refugees were milling near the entrance to the structure, calculating their odds of making it safely over the Irpin River, a family laden with backpacks and a blue roller suitcase decided to chance it.
The Russian mortar hit just as they made it across into Kyiv.
A cloud of concrete dust lofted into the morning air. When it settled, Ukrainians could be seen running madly from the scene. But not the family. A mother and her two children lay still on the roadway, along with a family friend.
CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell spoke with Addario on Monday about the image, and the emotions she experienced while taking it.
“I went forward and found a place sort of behind a wall and started photographing, and, in fact, within minutes, a series of mortars fell increasingly closer and closer to our position, until one landed about 30 feet from where I was standing, and it killed a mother and her two children,” she said.
O’Donnell noted the image is “proof of civilians being targeted” by Russian troops.
She asked, “What did you make of when you saw this family up close?”
Addario explained she thought of her own children as she documented the tragedy:
I mean, I’m a mother, and, you know, I–when I’m working, I try to stay very focused, I try to keep sort of the camera to my eyes. I had been sprayed with gravel from a mortar round that could have killed us very easily, so I was shaken up. When we were told that we could run across the street by our security advisor, I ran and I saw this family splayed out, and I saw these little moon boots and puffy coat, and I just thought of my own children.
She concluded, “It’s disrespectful to take a photo, but I have to take a photo. This is a war crime.”
She also said is was “no question” Russian forces knew they were targeting civilians.
Watch above, via WCBS.
